I am not referring here to the metaphorical or symbolic aspects of these moments but the simple 'What has happened?' and 'What is happening?' that they answer.
Robert Bresson may be the finest at communicating in this way. He accentuates, paradoxically, the physical presence and the soul by not showing it - and he does so with brevity and with power. Here are two examples taken from L'Argent and Une Femme Douce (first thirty seconds of the clip) :
They are different. The first is a product of what we already can hear and expect. A hand is raised but we do not see it strike. Instead the cup shows the force. The woman then carries her pain (the cup and coffee are now a representation of and vessel for it) away with her. The second is the purest of this technique; it uses objects to reveal or take us down a path towards understanding.
Another well known example, of the first kind, is in Fritz Lang's M. Elsie's treasured ball is seen rolling alone on a patch of grass. This is the most elegant of a representation of loss that has become hackneyed - balloons floating free, a slipper left on the road...
Another remarkably challenging post at CHECKING ON MY SAUSAGES, Stephen, and one well worth the wait after a brief hiatus here. As you know I am a very big fan of Robert Bresson, and know exactly where you are coming from. There are many such moments also present in A MAN ESCAPED and PICKPOCKET especially, and the director is a master at setting up this mise en scene with telling accuracy. The further reference of Elsi's ball in Fritz Lang's M is brilliant too. The work of the Dardenne brothers also falls under this cinematic umbrella.
ReplyDeleteTruly fabulous post! Wow.
Thanks very much, Sam.
ReplyDeleteI've been working on a couple of other projects so the blog has taken a back seat.
Exactly Stephen. And these are the objects that stay in mind for a long time. Like in Hitchcock.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Thanks JAFB.
ReplyDelete"And these are the objects that stay in mind for a long time. Like in Hitchcock."
Yes, that's right. I can't off the top of my head think of examples by Hitchcock in exactly the same vein but he does place special emphasis on objects and specific details.
great post, stephen. isn't the cap scene in eastwood's 'hereafter' a recent example of this technique?
ReplyDeletecheers from mx!
Thank you Gabriel.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Hereafter, I'm afraid. If and when I do, I'll keep an eye out.
Great piece. There's another example from Bresson's Mouchette, his sad masterpiece, where we don't "see" her drown at the end, but all we see are the ripples of water. We don't have to see the action to know what happened.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonny.
ReplyDelete"...we don't "see" her drown at the end, but all we see are the ripples of water."
Ah, yes. That's a fine example.
Sorry for the late response.
It's been years since I've re-watched a Bresson film, but what always lingers are these types of moments you refer to - objects that resonate the character's emotions, responses, actions. When I recall Bresson's films, I always seem to remember a microcosmic world of performance through hands and feet - shots of feet as someone enters a room, a hand offering money to another hand, the slight shift of a hand resting close to another, signifying the growing distance in a relationship between a boy and girl. Incredible worlds of expression via the extremities. Thanks for jogging the Bresson memory.
ReplyDeleteMichael,
ReplyDelete"I always seem to remember a microcosmic world of performance through hands and feet..."
"...the slight shift of a hand resting close to another, signifying the growing distance in a relationship between a boy and girl."
Yes, absolutely. Very nicely put.
"Thanks for jogging the Bresson memory"
My pleasure.